Bellevue elementary racing students nationwide to recycle millions of aluminum cans

Author: Farah Jadran (KING5)

Published: 10:11 AM PDT April 5, 2025

Updated: 10:29 AM PDT April 5, 2025

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BELLEVUE, Wash. — Recycling is Like Magic was launched three years ago this April in an effort to raise the amount of aluminum recycled in Washington state and across the U.S.

The company's president, Jessica Alexanderson, who's also an author, stopped by the KING 5 studios to talk about the 2 Million Cans Recycling Contest and why it inspires environmentally friendly behavior in youth.

Alexanderson launched the company with her co-authors, Shaziya M. Jaffer, a school teacher in Burnaby, B.C., and the owner of Detroit Scrap, Brad Rudover.

Last year, eight schools were involved in the contest with participating third graders also receiving a copy of The Girl Who Recycled 1 Millions Cans.

This year, 18 schools across the country are participating and the one-million can mark was met last week.

The "competitors" include Sherwood Forest Elementary in Bellevue.

Alexanderson said classes keep the money raised from their can recycling efforts and they're also awarded prize money and pizza parties along the way.

A long-time scuba diver and member of the Washington Scuba Alliance, Alexanderson spends many of her dive adventures also cleaning up floating or sunken trash with her fellow scuba friends.

"I love the amazing sea creatures but I started to see a lot of trash," Alexanderson said.

KING 5's Environment Northwest team spoke with Alexanderson for a report recently - Sixty years later: More than 100,000 tires from failed reef plan are coming out of Puget Sound.

Alexanderson said that it takes only 60 days from the time a can hits the recycling bin for it to be back on a store shelf.

"It's 95 percent less energy to make a can out of recycled aluminum rather mining new bauxite," Alexanderson said. "Energy saved from recycling one can powers a TV for three hours."

To learn more about Recycling is Like Magic - click here.

Alexanderson also launched a new nonprofit called Recycling Society to raise funds to expand her annual school recycling contest.